Mataya Nata
by PixieNicole
Summary: I was forced 2 move in with my father after burning down my mother's kitchen. I seem 2 b the type of girl who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily, someone was always there to save me. Please R&R. My story is better than my summary.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello you, this is my first fic so don't be to hard on me, okay. Hope you like my story...please R&R!!!**

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**Chapter one  
**Optimum

I was in the dressing room, trying on a dress my mother had picked out for me. Karen, my mother, was getting married in two weeks; to a man she had met only one year ago. She wants me to be there, beside her, while she is claimed by John Scott, my soon to be stepfather. He's a nice man and very handsome-and that's saying a lot coming from me- But we don't really talk much. He likes to keep to himself, as do I. My mother met him outside of a bar. Her car had broken down in front of the building; luckily he was there to save the day, as she called it.

The dress is pink, strapless and has lots of layers, fluffing out where it is set down past my fragile, wine glass figure. I didn't like the fact that I was in a dress, I'm more of a tomboy, - just hand me a pair of jeans and a t-shirt-, I'll be fine. But I'll do this for my mother. Only because I know all of this means a lot to her and I didn't want to be the one to ruin that.

When the dress was zipped I looked at myself in the mirror, examining myself. My blond wavy hair fell down the sides of my face, just past my shoulders and my brown eyes almost sparkling. Out of all the dresses that I've tried on already this one would be the one_ I_ would pick but it was actually my mother's choice so I opened the dressing room door, my mother, of course was standing there waiting for me to come out so she could see the dress on me. I forced a smile as she clapped her hands, repeatedly, and squeaked with excitement. I swear all she had to do was jump up and down and she would look like a little kid.

"You look so beautiful," she smiled and pulled me in for a hug. "I am really glad you'll be there for me, Mataya. And you really do have the perfect body for this type of dress. You really don't know how happy you've made me," she whispered.

My mother has short wavy light brown hair and brown eyes. She's about average height and very slim and slender. Her and my father got a divorce about eight years ago. I haven't really seen much of him since then. He moved all the way to Maine while my mother and I stayed in Florida. My mother has wanted me to visit my father over the vacations since he left but I didn't want to go someplace that was almost always snowy. That just wasn't for me.

"I think I do, mom," I smiled in her hair. "And thanks," I broke us apart but she kept her hands on my shoulders as she continued to examine my dress, up and down, the smile on her face just growing bigger by the second, her eyes filling with joy.

We had bought her dress a couple of days ago so when I had stripped from mine and was back in my blue tank top and jean shorts, we paid for everything and headed home. She still had lots of things to fiddle with for the wedding so she would be very busy for the next two weeks. When we finally reached her red 2005 Ford Crown Victoria we got inside and buckled up. All the way home she couldn't get that smirk off of her face, she was getting more and more excited as her special day got closer, which is something I could understand.

When we got home I put the dress in the hall closet and headed up to my bedroom. My room wasn't very large, just big enough for a full size bed, wicker dresser, and nightstand on either side of my bed. I had two small windows on other side of my bed as well, with red curtains and a small closet near the door that lead to the hall.

I had a bit of homework due Monday so I figured I'd do it now so I had tomorrow to do what I wanted, to myself. It wasn't long before I finished. I only had an English paper and had to study for an upcoming history test. As I headed downstairs I found my mother still on the phone, she was arguing with someone about the flower arrangements.

I just shook my head as I continued towards the kitchen, laughing. Yes, I was glad to see my mother happy again but she was taking some of this a bit too far. When I finally reached the kitchen I looked though the freezer to find something to make for dinner. I never really liked this kitchen, I always felt like it was too small for us. And the walls, there an ugly green color, almost like puke green. The cabinets are even worse; they're a horrible tint of gray. I never really got why my mother modeled the kitchen like this when we first moved here, six years ago. Only one window lay above the kitchen table. White silk curtains draped over it.

Today was my day to cook so I took out some chicken. Put it in the microwave, and set it to defrost for ten minutes. While I waited I walked back over to the fridge and pulled out some veggies, needing to give the chicken some flavor. When everything was cut and the microwave timer went off I placed everything into the glass cook pan, sliding it into the oven, and put it on two hundred and fifty degrees. Needing to make a side dish to go with the chicken I grabbed the potatoes and peeled a descent amount, enough for three people. I grabbed a pan, filled it up with water, and turned the flame on high.

Walking over to the sink I washed the slime off of my hands and wiped them dry with a dish rag, only to throw it on the counter behind me when I was done. Then heading back upstairs, I walked towards the bathroom, needing to take a shower. I had enough time before the food would be ready. I turned the water on hot and got undressed, waiting for the water to steam. And once I got in I let the warm water massage at my back, loosening up some of the tight knots, tying to relieve some of the tension. When my hair was wet I scrubbed in my favorite scented shampoo, blueberry.

When I was out and dry I wrapped a towel around my petite body, tightly. Heading back to my bedroom I put on a pair of gray sweats and a white spaghetti strap top. After I brushed my hair back into a bun I looked over at the digital clock that lay on my nightstand, I realized I should probably check on the dinner since it's been sitting in there for about forty-five minutes now. So I head downstairs, once again.

Passing by my mother I noticed she was still on the phone but I couldn't tell who it was with this time. As I passed by, getting closer to the kitchen, I noticed something smelt like it was burning. I quicken my pace to a sprint. When I reached the kitchen I pushed open the door, black smoke hitting my face, and revealing fire on the stove and spreading thought the cabinets above. The flames, red and blue, screaming, threatening to spread.

"Mom," I squeaked. It wouldn't come out more than a whisper. So I tried again, this time using more force. "M-O-M," this time I managed a scream, sounding each word out as its own syllable.

"What?" she replied, I could hear the agitation in her voice but she got up and headed toward me, the phone still attached to her ear.

"What do I do?" I cried.

She pushed thought the door. Seconds later, dropping the phone on the floor, "Holy shit," she screamed. "Get the extinguisher from the closer."

I quickly escape the room while she thinks of what else to do. Rambling thought the closer I throw everything out, trying to dig deep to the back of it. I honestly don't know why we hid it behind everything. After about a minute of searching I finally found it and run back to the kitchen. My mother was smacking at the start of the flame, with a dish cloth, when I pushed though the door.

"Quick, give it to me," she cried, fear showing in both her eyes and her voice.

Luckily this one wasn't like the big heavy ones you would find in the large business building so I threw it at her with ease and she caught it, and pressed down on the trigger, setting it off over the burning stove.

"Call John," she ordered. her voice a little calmer as the fire slowly started to subside.

Looking down, I found the phone in pieces on the floor. I quickly pick it up and try to put it back together but wasn't successful in the slightest. Giving up I place it on the counter and head for the phone upstairs. I grabbed the phone that sat in my bedroom, dialed my soon to be stepfathers work number. It took me three tries to get the number right but eventually the phone started to wring and I waited, anxious, for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" asked the secretary, picking it up after the third ring.

"Yes, can you please put Mr. Johnson on the phone? It's an emergency," I said this a bit too fast, even for myself, I hoped she heard me.

John is the boss of a big building. Him and a couple of his partners are in charge of coming up with new toy ideas for children. He brings home a descent amount of money so my mother doesn't have to worry about getting a job herself. He believes that the woman shouldn't have to get a job. I never really got too much into that subject with him so I just leave it at that, he makes my mother happy so I can't really complain.

"I'm sorry, he's in a meeting right now but if you leave me your name and number I will tell him you called," I could hear her frown threw the phone.

"No please, I'm his step daughter," –wow that was really weird to say-. "I really need to speak with him," this time I slowed down my words but my voice still a little shaky.

I think she could hear it in my voice as well because she gave in instantly, "Alright, I'll pull him out now then." I heard her place the phone down then soft footsteps fade away. Two very agonizing minutes passed before I hear ruffling sounds on the phone, again. "What's the matter, Mataya? I'm in the middle of-," he sounded very frustrated but I stopped him before he could continue.

"There was a huge fire in the kitchen and there's lot of damage. We need you to come home," I talked quickly again, not noticing until I was finished.

"What?" he screamed. Making me remove the phone from my ear but putting it back when it died down. "I'll be right there," was the last thing he said before the phone line went dead.

Hanging the phone up on the hook I run back downstairs to check on my mother. By the time I reached the kitchen the fire was out and she was over by the window struggling to open it, to let all the black smoke out. As she did that I looked back over at the stove and the cabinets above. Everything was black and the cabinets were almost gone, easier said, everything was ruined. The kitchen would defiantly need to be torn down and redone if we wanted to still live here.

"Are you alright, mom" I asked as I turned toward her, searching hard for every word. She had just pushed up the window.

"Mataya, how could you be so stupid?" she frowned as she turned to face me, I could hear her trying to fight back tears.

"Mom, I didn't do anything. I came back and it was like this," I wasn't as strong as my mother, I never was so I just let the tears stream down my cheeks.

"Oh, then how did this land over the pan on the stove?" she lifted up her hand, holding up what was left of a dish cloth.

"But-I-it," I couldn't talk. Mom was right. When I threw the cloth it must have landed over the stove burner with ought me knowing. "Mom, I'm so sorry," was all I could manage to say.

"You're sorry? You're sorry?" she was repeating herself. That was a bad sign. That meant she was more than mad. She was pissed off, furious. "Mataya, do you realize how much damage you just caused us? Do you know how much this is going to cost to fix it? We can't even stay here while everything gets put back together." With each sentence her screaming got even louder but she stayed where she was while she ranted.

Seconds later the kitchen door opened, almost knocking me over, "Oh, my God," he screamed. It was John. His eyes got huge as he looked over the kitchen, his lip twitching repeatedly.

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**So, what did you think?  
Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two  
Somewhere new**

"Mom, do I really have to go?" I whimper. I do not want to move to my father's house. He lives in Maine and it's always to cold there. I like Florida, I like the warm sun but Maine, Maine is the total opposite, it just is not what I want.

"Sorry Mataya, but there's nothing else we can do. John and I have to stay in a hotel while the house is remodeled. I don't want you to live like that so your father said you could stay with him till the end of the school year." she sounds so happy that I'm leaving, thought I probably deserve that since I was the one who caused this whole mess to happen, it's my fault. I hate myself for it too. "Here," she smiles as she hands me an envelope.

"What is it?" I wondered.

"It's three hundred dollars. Use this money to buy new clothes when you get up there. You're going to need to get something warmer."

"Thanks mom, I love you," I smile and place the envelope into my carry on, then step out of the cab.

It's in the middle of the school year, January sixteenth to be exact. I know that once I get to Maine there will be snow on the ground still. And I don't like that, not at all.

"I love you sweetheart." She assured me as she rolled down the car window. "Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you. Airports can be a bitch," she laughed.

"No thanks. I'll be fine." with that, said I turn on my heels and head inside the building.

Once I'm past security and my one bag of luggage is aboard, I take a seat in the waiting room. I put on my headphones and turn on my I Pod. It automatically turns on to 'Love Game' by Lady Gaga. She's one of my favorite singers though I'm not meticulous when it comes to music. I'll listen to whatever is on, The Black Eyed Peas, Linkin Park, Drake, The White Tie Affair, to Tim McGraw.

I cannot believe I'm actually going to be on an airplane. I mean I've been on one before but I was little and with both my parents. I'll be on this plane for about three and a half house before I land again and I'm going to be by myself. Dad is going to meet me at the Boston airport and drive us back to his place from there. That's about another hour of sitting on my ass.

When the plane is finally being loaded up, I grab my carry on bag and take out my plane ticket. I stand in line and wait to be let on. Once I am, I hand over my ticket and the woman lets me pass, a smile painted on her face from ear to ear, though it looks fake. I find my seat, row 15 b in middle class. Once I'm seated, I put my carry on under my seat and sit back, buckle my seat belt, and breathe in heavily.

I look out the window and watch everyone's luggage being placed into the plane when I hear someone sit down next to me.

"Hello."

I look over and find a young male, about my age, sitting down next to me. He's looking underneath his seat right now so I cannot see his face. But when he finally looks up at me, I see him clearly. He has brown eyes with an almost red tint to them, brown shoulder length curly hair, and his skin color is close to mine, just a bit dar5ker, more mocha colored. I cannot help but take a quick peak at his chest. You can see his musicals lay underneath his shirt. It's like there screaming to come out. But before I make it obvious that I'm looking him over, I speak and look back up at his face. "Hello."

"My name is Shelby, Cody Shelby," he introduces himself and sticks out his hand.

"Um, my name is Mataya," I reach out slowly and shake his hand.

"Cool," he smiled brightly. "So where are you headed?" our hands drop into our laps and he looks me directly in the eyes. I want to look away but it's as if he locked our gazes together and won't let them go. I don't like it. I feel like he's staring at me deeper than just the outside.

"Eustis, Maine. And you?" I finally break our gaze and force myself to look out the window. If I looked at him one more, second I would have melted.

"Oh, that's cool. That's not too far from where I live." his mile grew larger. "I live in Bar Harbor, Maine. It's like fifty-five minutes away." I can picture the smile on his face growing from ear to ear.

The plane by now is taking off and I'm glad I have someone to talk to, to distract me. I forgot to take my sleeping pulls before I got on board so hopefully I won't get sick in front of him or anything, "You live there?" as soon as I finish I realize my tone sounded shocked, even to me.

"Yes," he laughed slightly. "So what are you going up there for, mini vacation? Family thing? A group trip?" wow, so many questions flying out of his mouth, it is somewhat overwhelming.

"No, my dad, Richard, has lived in Maine for a long time now. I'm moving in with him," I frown at the thought and sigh. Why am I even sharing this with him?

"You don't look excited," he pointed out the obvious.

"Mhm, well I don't really want to go," I explain. "I've lived here in Florida my whole life and don't really like change."

"So why are you leaving?" I can almost hear him frowning with confusion, acting as if he is actually concerned.

"My mother, Karen, is making me," I reply.

I finally look away from the window and back at him again. He's looking ahead, in the aisle.

"Oh, that's harsh. What did you do?" he's eyebrows pulled together as he turns his head and looks back at me, locking eyes with mine, once again.

I let out a deep breath before I answer. He's probably going to laugh when I tell him, if I tell him. Why am I sharing all this information with him anyways? I barely know him and will I even ever see him again? "I burned down the kitchen." I look away again as I answer. I don't want to see what expression would show on his face next. But I was right. I hear him start to laugh seconds later.

"Wow, are you serious?" he asked between hysterics. "How did you mange that?"

I sneak a peak at his face and he's still half-smiling I can tell he's trying to hold in more of his laughter. I might as well just tell him the rest. If I don't he'll probably think things that were totally off what really happened.

"When I was cooking dinner I accidentally threw one of the wash clothes over the stove burner and didn't realize it." I cannot help but smile at myself. It does sound stupid when I say it aloud.

"Ha, I bet your mother won't let you in the kitchen anymore," he replies as he lets out another laugh.

"Probably not," I agreed.

For the rest of the plane ride we just talk about him. He told me how he came down to visit his family and then they all went to Universal. He's been down here for about a week now and he's finally heading home. His parents are separated also, and he lives with his father. He's lived in Maine his whole life. He explained how it's not as bad as I would think that I disagree. No one can possibly know how bad I feel about leaving my home.

When the plane finally lands, I grab my carry-on bag and walk out with Cody. We say our good-byes when he gets his bag out of the conveyor belt, "Well I hope I get to see you again, soon," he smiled and stars toward the front door.

"See you," was all I rely with while I stay and wait for my suitcase, which only had some of my clothes in it. I didn't bring any of my shorts or any type of light clothing for that matter, knowing that they would never be needed, here, for me anyways. I can already feel the cold hit my skin and I'm not even outside yet.

When my bag finally comes around, I walk towards the woman's bathroom, change out of my tank top and short and into, pair of dark blue jeans, and a white turtleneck sweeter. I'm still freezing.

When I get outside, I realize I was right about the snow, there's a lot and it's everywhere. I find my father just pulling up in his black 1980 Cadillac when I step outside. I cannot believe he still has that thing. It looks so old and run down I'm surprised he can still ride it on the road. There really should be a law against it.

"Hey, kiddo," he smiles as he pulls up in front of me and rills down the window of the passenger door.

"Hey did," I smile back.

He pops open the trunk so I put my luggage away then jump into the seat next to him. I shut the door, buckle up, and my nose quickly scrunches up. The car smells worse than it actually looks from the outside.

I look over at my father. He looks so different from the last time I saw him. His blue eyes look duller. His blond hair turning gray and he's shrunk a good couple of inches from what I can tell.

"You've grown up so much," he frowned as he pulls out into traffic and is stuck behind some cars.

"Yup," I replied.

It's somewhat awkward sitting here next to Richard. I can tell he's uncomfortable as well but he's trying to make the best of it by hiding it with a smile, which doesn't help in the slightest.

"How's your mother?" he took a quick glance at me but put his eyes back on the road.

"She's good, happy," I smiled.

"Is she still getting married next week?" when he asked that I could see the sadness in his eyes. I don't thing he likes John all that much. Thought he shouldn't judge someone he doesn't even know. Thought I think it's because he misses my mother. I don't think he ever stopped loving her. It was my mother, who wanted the divorce. It never really worked out between them. They were always fighting about different things, never being able to keep one thing straight.

"No, they've moved it. Now it's another month away," I frowned, knowing that it's my fault. She was really looking forward to getting married and being happy again and I screwed it all up for her.

I can see the corner of his lip curl but then quickly disappear.

We drive the rest of the way in silence. But when we finally get to his house, I grab my two bags and we walk inside. H brings me up a set of stairs and down the hall, turning to the first door on the right. When I walk in, there's a single bed in the corner of the room with a red bedspread. Next to, it is a small wooden nightstand. On the other side of the room there's a large dresser against the wall, it looks old but is very pretty. It has loads of fancy designs on the edges, and it's set next to a closet. I walk over to it and peak inside. My eyes widen when I open the door. It's like two times the size then the one back at home, hell this whole room is defiantly large then my old bedroom.

Seconds later, I notice a computer desk to my right. And the computer that rests on to looks brand new. I secretly squeak with excitement inside my head. I finally have my own computer and it's not even going to be slow. Back home we all had to share the same one and it's like ten years old.

"Thanks dad," I say as I put my bags down on the bed and give him a hug. He returns it quickly, not wanting to miss any of it.

"No probably kiddo," he smiled in my hair then pulled away turning serious. "There are only two rules in this house alright," he laughed slightly.

"And they are?" I asked when he doesn't continue.

"First and most important, I don't want you in my kitchen, got that. And second, I don't want you bringing any boys home." he laughed even harder as he said the second rule but I can still hear the seriousness in his tone.

I role my eyes as he says his _rules_. I cannot believe he's actually being serious. I do on stupid thing in the kitchen and everyone has to take advantage of it. And as for the boys thing it's not as if I know anybody right now.

"Got it?" he asked again, when I don't say anything in reply.

"Yes dad, I got it," I replied as I turn back towards my bed.

"Well I'll be down stairs if you need me," he smiled as he turns on his heels and heads out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

I turn back to my suitcase and unzip it. The few clothes that lay inside are already folded nicely and separated according to outfits so I pull them out and slid them into the dresser. When that is done, I grab all of my bathroom items and place them in and around the sink and cabinet above. I finish unpacking about thirty minutes later so I head downstairs and turn on the television but find nothing on. All I could find was the news and food channels.

"Mataya, I'm making raviolis for dinner. You like that right?" he asked from the kitchen.

"Yes, that's fine," I replied as I get up and walk toward him. His kitchen is definitely much larger than the one back home and isn't as ugly, the walls are white and the cabinets are a light brown color. All his appliances look brand new and the table in the corner is made out of metal legs and a glass top.

"It will be done in a couple minutes if you want to take a seat," he smiled when I entered the room."Alright," I returned the smile and did what he said.

"So did you unpack all of your things?" he asked as he continues to stir the food.

"Yes, but I didn't bring much to begin with so it didn't take me that long," I explain. "I have to go shopping tomorrow to get everything else that I need," I smile at the thought. I cannot wait to get my hands on some new things. I always enjoyed shopping.

"Oh, okay," was all he replied with.

When the raviolis are done, he drains out the water and dumps the sauce inside the bowl. I was going to get up and prepare my own plate but he's already started on both his and mine when I stand next to him.

"Here's your plate," he smiled as he hands it to me.

"Thanks," I replied as I take it and return to my seat.

Once he has his plate ready he sits down next to me and speaks, "Everything is all set for school on Monday. You just have to meet with the principal in the morning before your first class starts."

"Where's the school exactly?" I frowned as I take the first bite of my food. Richard is actually a good cook, though I don't understand why he would be considering he's been cooking for himself for many years. I cannot help but shove a second fork full into my mouth before I'm even done chewing my first fork full.

"Oh, don't worry about it a bus will pick you up right outside the house." he assured me.

Oh, great a bus. At least I won't have to walk all the way to the school. All's I know is it's around five miles away from the house.

When we finish dinner was my job to wash the dishes. There no fire involved with that job so dad had is having me do that from now on instead of cooking. When I'm done, I head upstairs and change into my pajamas. I'm still freezing so I slid underneath the covers and slowly fall to sleep. I had, had a long day and am exhausted tremendously.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three  
**Something terrible

When I awake, it is already ten o'clock in the morning. I look out my window; it is not very sunny out like it would be in Florida. That puts me down a bit, so I take my eyes away from the window and head downstairs to make myself a bowl of cereal. I was just about to take a seat when I realize I have not seen Richard anywhere around the house. I look out the window and see his car is still stilling in the driveway so that must mean he is still sleeping.

When I finish my breakfast, I wash out the bowl then head back up to my room. I walk over to my dresser and pull out a brown long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of jeans, slipping them on soon after.

I walk to the bathroom, brush my hair, and throw it up into just a simple bun, letting the short strands of hair fall down by my ears. When my teeth are brushed, I grab my clothes money throw on my black light sweater and head for the front door, quite, not wanting to wake Richard. There should be a clothing store close enough to walk to. However, just as I am about to open the door I am stopped by a voice calling me back, from upstairs.

"Mataya, were do you think you're going? Richard frowned as he skipped down the stairs. I quickly turn on my heels, shocked at his tone.

"I told you I was going clothes shopping today," I grunted. Is his memory that bad?

"I know that." I guess not but then why did he stop me? "I remember but you didn't think I was going to let you walk did you?" he smiled.

He is at the bottom step now, still in his pajamas, bed hair, and holding car keys in his hand.

"Um, dad," I chuckle. "Thanks for the offer but first off, you're still in your night clothes and second, I'm going to be out shopping the whole times."

Laughter escapes his lips seconds later, showing all of his teeth, confusing me. What did he find so funny?

"Hun, I'm not going with you, I'm giving you the car," he replied once his laugher dies down.

"I can, really?" I asked, happy that I did not have to walk.

"Well yes, the closest clothing store is like an hour away. I wasn't going to make you walk all of that." the then throws the car keys in my direction and I catch them with ease, smiling.

"Thanks dad," I replied as I turn back towards the door.

I head outside and cannot believe house cold I feel once I open the door. The cold breeze touched my skin and sent a shiver down my spine. Once I am in the Cadillac, I put the keys in the ignition and wait for the car to heat up. This car was not going anywhere until it warmed up first. Moreover, I do not mean because I am cold but because the car is so cold it needs time to idle.

When a little over five minutes pass I crank the heat on high, put the car into drive, and the car gladly moved for me. As I drive down the street, I flip though the radio stations, trying to find something good to listen to. Finally, I find one that is playing 'I hate this part', by The Pussycat Dolls, I just continue to drive as I sing along with it.

_I cannot take it any longer, _

_Thought that we were stronger, _

_All we do is linger, _

_Slipping thought my fingers. _

_I do not wanna try now, _

_All that's left's good-bye to,_

_Find a way that I can tell you._

Dad was right when he said there was no clothing store anywhere closes by. I have been driving around for about forty-five minutes, going though nothing but dirt roads and woods. The good thing is I found the school. It is just a couple of towns over, easy to find. However, I was thinking of giving up on the new clothes idea. And heading back home when I finally come across a store named, 'Fashion Bug'. That has to be the clothing store, the name makes it sound like it is anyway. Therefore, I quickly pull into the parking lot and park in a space closet to the building. The building does not look very big from the outside. I would be surprised if they had anything good. When the car is in park and I am unbuckled, I grab my money and head inside.

I cannot believe what I find when I step inside. The store is bigger than I thought but not by much. I walk further in and find my way to the women's junior section. The first thing that catches my eyes is a blue and white striped long sleeve baby doll top. I look though the clothing rack and pull out my size, medium. I rest it on my arm, as I keep looking though the rest of the shirts.

When I finish shopping and have tried everything on I'm left with the stripped baby doll top, a purple lace Emma top, a green layered crop neck t-shirt, and two shirred polo tops, one of them being black and the other being a light gray. As for pants I picked out a pair of button tab pocket jean Capri's, denim black jeans, rose sweats, bebop double chop pocket belted black pants, and jean cuffed pants. I also grabbed a while Cascade cardigan sweater and a brown fleece bib puffer jacket. The total for everything came up to two hundred and seventy-six dollars, even. Therefore, I still have a couple of dollars left for whatever.

When I get back to the car, I put the bags in the trunk and shut the door. I get into the front seat and start the engine and head back home. I start my new school tomorrow so I want to be home and get things together before the day is over. Moreover, after another fifty or so minute drive I am finally back at home. It felt like I found my way back father than it did to get to the store in the first place.

"Is that you, Mataya?" dad asked from the living room as soon as I opened the front door.

"Yes," I replied as I put the bags down by the stairs, shut the front door, and headed towards the living room.

"Did you find the store alright?" he asked once I was standing by the living room door.

"Yes, I can't believe how long of a fire it was though. It was crazy." I smiled as I plop down on the couch next to him.

"See, aren't you glad I let you take my car?" he laughed.

"I am dad, thanks again."

"So do you have enough clothes now?" he smiled as he turned toward me, looking at me directly in the eyes.

"Yes," I replied with a chuckle. "I am for now anyway."

"That's good."

"Well, I'm going to go put the Clothes away. What are we going to have for dinner?" I asked as I stand up.

"Pork Chops," he replied with an even bigger smile.

When I get to my bedroom, I thought my bags on the bed and pull out my clothes pull all the tags off of them, and throw them into their drawers. When that is done I sit on the edge of my bed and stare up at the ceiling, thinking. I suddenly want to explore, as cold as I know it is outside I feel the need to go outdoors, explore my new surroundings so I grab my new jacket slip it on, and run back down the steps two at a time.

"Were you going now?" dad asked once I reach the bottom.

"Just going to explore a bit," I replied.

"It's cold outside," he reminded me, a smile slowly taking over his face.

"I know, I won't be long," I promised him.

"Alright, I expect you back before dinner though," he ordered then walks into the living room.

"No problem, dad," I laughed and continue out the door.

I head towards the back of the house. The snow only reaches up just pasty my ankles so it is not that hard to walk though, I manage anyway. Once I am underneath the trees, there is barely any snow on the ground at all. When I look up you cannot even see the sky anymore. It is like there is a thick blanket covering the ground from getting any sun light.

I follow a path deep into the woods. It definitely is not as cold in the woods as it is in the open area, considering there is hardly any breeze being thought the leaves of the trees. Little rays of sun light show though the open parts of the trees giving me some light to see. Moreover, it is actually a pretty place underneath all the snow. I cannot imagine how it must look during the summer time. It must be beautiful.

I hear a noise behind me just then, destroying my train of thought. That was the first thing that I heard since I stepped outside. And it is strange because it sounded nothing like an animal. It sounded excessively big to be a simple little squirrel, maybe even bigger than a bear would sound. At least they could sneak.

I do not want to stand around and find out so I turn back around and head towards the house. I only walked about a mile or two so I will be back, safe, inside my house in a bout twenty minutes or so.

I walk slowly, watching my surroundings, making sure I was not going to bump into anything. With my clumsiness I have to be extra careful. As scared, as I am I know I would probably lose my balance easily. After only a couple of steps, I hear the noise again, making me jump even more than I did the first time. It sounds closer and sounded like it had come from behind me. That is when I hear a voice for the first time.

"I _will_ get you," says the voice.

It sounded like a male. His voice deep and hard, sounding almost crazy.

I run thought the woods, tears streaming down my checks -blurring my vision-, and sweat dripping freely from my forehead. I spin around quickly, searching my surroundings, wondering if the person is anywhere in sight. As I spin back to the front, I had not seen anything anywhere but I continue running anyway, afraid he could come out of nowhere. All I know is I had to get out of here and I have to get out of her now. I pass by tall trees, bushes, large rocks, and push thought vines, running faster than I ever thought I could. It was probably an adrenalin rush.

That is when I notice I am no longer on the path.

I rip my caught off I am sweating so much. I feel like it is just dragging me behind anyway maybe taking it off will help me run a bit faster.

I am almost out, near a clearing. I can see the sun shining down and everything. Next thing I know I trip over a tree root, falling hard, face first, and landing in a puddle of mud and snow. I shiver on the ground from the cold feeling and try to stand back up but feel something heavy press down on me, pushing me back down. Seconds later an evil laughter fills the air.

"I told you that I'd catch you," the man's laugher gets louder as he holds my hands down in front of me with one hand and pulls my hair out of my face with the other, his large wet body holding me down, "You look even more beautiful than I thought," he added.

"Get off of me," I screeched, struggling underneath his grasp, fresh tears starting to fall. I cannot see his face that well; he has me face down on the ground, laying me in such a way that I cannot turn my head.

"I love how you play hard to get," he smiled.

Without another word, his free hand finds its way down my back and he starts leaving a trail of wet kisses down my back until he reaches my jeans. Suddenly he takes a tight hold on them. I scream and kick, trying to stop him from pulling then down but is not successful in the slightest. He has them down by my ankles within minutes.

"You legs look wonderful," he breathed in my ear when he makes his way back up. I shiver at the hot breathe that enters my ear. "There so smooth, long, and tanned."

He then flips me over onto my back, now just sitting on top of me, my hands free, that's when I get a good look at him. His hair is short and black, his eyes darker than the night. His chin rounds off at the bottom and his lips are curled, hard, into a tight smile, his features simple; as I follow down his person, I find that he is very large in size. His muscles are burgling out from underneath his lose shirt.

He tries to rip off my shirt but I swat his hands away. This makes him mad, causing him to quickly react and backhand the side of my face. My head snaps to the side and my hands fly up to my check, rubbing the spot that now stings. He takes this chance and rips my shirt down the middle then throwing it to the side, revealing everything underneath, my bra still on securely.

I get cold instantly, shivering from the cold of his bare hands touching my stomach as he makes shapes on my lower abdomen.

"Wow, you look so beautiful. I just wish we didn't have to do this the hard way," he frowned.

"No," I scream repeatedly.

He cups my boobs with both of his hands and moans as the smile on his face grows. Tears continue to slide down the sides of my face as I lay here helpless. As his hands travel down to my underwear I shoot up as far as I can, as far as he will allow me to and that is when I notice he has nothing on but boxers now. This man is more than crazy. This man is a fucking sciatic pedophile.

He is about to pull them down when he goes flying backwards, freeing me to just get up and run. I stand up and my jeans are still by my ankles. Quickly, I pull them up and run for my life, literally. I do not know who had saved me, who had pulled him off me but I am too afraid to look back. I just continue to run as fast as I can, as far as I can.

I do not stop until I reach the clearing. I cannot breathe, I would have kept going but I had to catch my breath. When I look up, I notice the sun is dimming down, meaning it is going to get dark out soon. When I look behind me, I see nothing but the colors brown, green, and white. No humans in sight, so I take a deep breath in and continue on running, hoping to find my way out before it gets to dark out and before I freeze to death.

It feels like I have been running for houses but it could have just been minutes. The sun is almost down, making it dark underneath the forest blanket of the trees. I feel like I am going to pass out from the cold, but I keep on running anyway, not wanting to stop anymore. I do not want to chance that man finding me again if he is still out here.

I continue to pass trees, rocks, and bushes. I cannot tell where I am. Everything just looks the same to me. I am getting frustrated at myself for running off the path. Besides the kitchen incident, this is probably the stupidest thing I have ever done.

I start getting dizzy, my skin feeling numb. It is getting colder out the darker it gets and with me not having a shirt on makes it even worse. I can barely see anything anymore; I cannot see where I am going. I feel like I am going to run into a tree or trip over another…

Before I can finish off the thoughts going through my head, I feel myself run into something hard. However, it does not feel like a tree, or even a bush, it was much softer than anything.

I was going to fall backwards from the force of the hit but then something wraps around me, saving me from the fall. That is when I realize I had not hit an inanimate object; I had run into a person. Freaked out, thinking it was the dark haired man again, I start to flail out, trying to loosen myself form the persons grip.

"Shah, Shah," the person ordered me, his voice soft, soothing. "You're safe now," the person promised. "Relax."

I do not know if I can believe the person who had me in their grasp but either way I had to listen. I did not want to get hurt if it was the sciatic pedophile again. I calm down, my body relaxing, almost going limp as I grow even colder and weaker.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"Um I-I think so," I replied in a shaky tone. "I'm just-just really cold," my teeth start to chatter together.

"Here, take this," he said as he let go of my body and takes a step back. This is the first time I get a good look at him. It definitely is not the man who had attacked me before. This male is a couple of inches shorter, his hair is a darker shade of black and his eyes are a hint of brown and red. He is very pale, almost like, he never goes out into the sunlight but he is _built_ and his chin squares off at the bottom. He has this flow to his body, almost like an angel and his beauty; I cannot get over how much I want to melt into his arms.

He takes off his jacket and places it over my shoulders. "Put it on and keep warm," he ordered.

So I slip my arms thought the holes and zip up the jacket. I still feel cold but I am definitely not as chilly as when I just had my bra on. "Um, thank you," I forced a smile as I look up into his eyes.

"It was no problem," he smiled back and places an arm around my shoulders, leading me in the opposite direction I was heading before, "Let's just get you home before you catch a cold."

He leads me out of the woods in a matter of minutes, it was as if I was following the edge of the woods the whole time, I just did not see it. I get mad at myself for feeling so stupid. Once I find that we are on the path, again I notice a car running only a couple of feet away. From where I am standing, it looks like a 2009 Aston-martin. It looks amazing. I have never actually seen one out of my television set before. He must be loaded if he can afford something like this.

When we finally reach the car he walks me over to the passenger side and opens up the door for me. I stand here, near the open door, hesitating I'm having second thoughts about getting into this car with him what if he's just playing the nice card, so he can trick me and take me to _his_ place?

"It's alright, I promise I won't hurt you," he insisted.

I still do not budge. I really do not want to risk something like this twice-in one day. Therefore, I turn to talk to him instead. "How did you find me? How did you know I was there?"

"Get into the car first," he laughed.

Right, so he is going to be tricky with me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

**How did he know?**

Minutes pass as we stand here in silence, he does not say anything or force me to get into his car but he stands his ground, in my way, not letting me pass by him; and by the look on his face I have a feeling he is not going to let me win. However, I still try, thinking of a way to get past or around him. I figure playing the old foot ball trick, faking one way and going the other, would work but when I try it, it's like he already knew everything step I was going to make before I actually moved. It is as if he can read my mind.

Eventually I just give up and sit down in his car. I am getting cold again and my knees are starting to shake. I know now that I will not have any chance of getting ways, especially at this point, feeling as tired and shaky as I am.

"Beautiful, takes awhile but eventually you learn to listen," he says in a serious tone, then shuts the car door.

Within no time, at all he is sitting next to me, on the drives side of the car. I look over at him, confused. Did I zone out from the cold? I had not even heard the door open or shut.

"Are you going to answer my question now, then, since I'm in your car?" I wondered, somehow knowing that he would not bring it back up if I did not first.

"What question?" he frowns, his face filling with confusion.

"You…I, I asked you how you knew I was here." how could he have already forgotten my question? I asked it not even fifteen minute ago. Is he pushing it off on purpose or did he truly forget?

"Oh," he chuckled once.

Really how can he think it is funny? After what had happened, then with him finding me, and forcing me to get into his car, I ask one simple question and he thinks that it is funny? There has to be something seriously wrong with him.

"Well, I was walking along the path when I found you wandering around, deeper into the woods, half naked. You looked so lost and scared, never mind seeming cold. I tried to get your attention but it was as if you were deaf or something. The only way I could get your attention was letting you crashing into me the way you did," he replied, not taking his eyes off the road as he took off. It almost seems like he is trying to focus on something else, something far away. Something I cannot see. "What happened to you anyway? Why were you wandering around half naked?" he frowns. "And in the winter time," he added.

"Wait," I froze. "You mean you weren't the one who…" I cannot bring myself to say it. I do not want to remember what happened back there…but I have to finish what I was going to say, I have to find out. I need to know. "You weren't the one who saved me from that man?" a single tear escaped my eye as the man's face flashes though my head like a black and white film movie. However, as I look back at what happened I realize that I was lucky enough to get away and surprised I am not in some sort of shock. Wouldn't any other person in this situation be freaking out right about now?

"Save you?" he frowns again. "Save you from what? What happened to you out there?" he asks for a second time, his tone filling with concern. This is the first time he really sounds worried. It's kind of weird having a stranger worry about me but also comforting at the same time. However, what I want to know is why he seems to be caring so much.

I start to shake again. If his is not the one who had saved me from that horrible man then who is? This means there were three people out there with me at the same time, not just the two.

"I was wandering around the woods who-when a man came out of now where and at…attacked me. He was holding me down to the ground while he…he." I trailed off, looking down by me feet, feeling too embarrassed to finish. Moreover, it is just too horrible to say aloud.

"Oh, my God," he breathed, knowing right away what I was talking about. "He _hurt_ you?" he practically screamed and starts to slow the car down.

"No…no, I got away," I reply quickly as I watch him closely as his anger slowly subsides and he takes off again at regular speed.

"It's a good thing you did then," he smiles a half smile and looks at me for the first time since we got into his car, his face unreadable. However, as I look at him closer I cannot believe my eyes. He looks drop dead gorgeous, with his black hair short and messy, as if having been in a fight with the woods; his eyes a light green color and his skin very pale but beautifully smooth, as if he has never been out in the sun before; he looks more statue like than human. His lips shape perfectly into a tight smile as his dark eyebrows push up and his forehead crunched together with all emotions mixing into one.

I can tell, as I look deeper into his eyes that he is doing the same to me so I quickly look away, facing my window. Was he really looking over me the way I was looking over him? Was he searching though every detail, every crevice of my face as I was to him?

As I sit here, watching the trees pass by us in a fast rate, as much as I did not want to look away from him I force myself to keep my eyes looking out the window. I feel even more embarrassed knowing how I must look, after having rolling in snow and mud, even if he was the one who had found and saved me.

I watch as he finally drives onto the street, somewhere that is unfamiliar to me.

"I almost didn't," I decide to continue, still forcing myself not to look at him, keeping my eyes on my hands as they twirl in my lap. "But then it…it all just happened so fast. Someone else was there and…and saved me," I explain, tears treating to fall. "That's why I thought you were the one who saved me. You showed up like right after it happened, right after I got away."

"Oh, well whoever it was, it sounds like you got very lucky," he replies in a soft tone.

"You, lucky," I repeat, if you can even count almost being raped, getting lost in the forest, and wondering around with hardly any clothes on; lucky.

"Well, we're here, Mataya," he smiles as the car slows to a stop. I look out my window again and see that we are parked in the driveway in front of my house. That was fast.

"Thank you," I smile back and reach for the door handle but stop before the door can open.

That is when it downs on me, now did he know my name? Better yet, how did he know where I lived? I do not remember telling him either of those things. We talked about what happened in the woods, not of anything else, right?

"What's wrong?" he asks, sounding almost nervous, when I do not move to get out of his car.

"How did you know my name and where I lived?" I wondered as I turned and faced him, leaning up against the door. I do not care how gorgeous he looks, what was going on was confusing me and I needed to clear it up right now.

"You told me," he laughed. I cannot tell if he is being serious or not, his face is blank, unreadable. It frustrates the hall out of me when I cannot read peoples facial explorations.

"No. I didn't," I demanded.

"Yes, you did, Mataya," HE repeated, calmly, though, I have a feeling he is hiding something.

"No, I…I did not," I say again, more anger in my voice. "I don't even know you name," I pointed out. "How could you know my name when I don't even know yours?" it just does not make sense. Am I going crazy?

"Louis," he laughed though a laugh. "Remember?"

"I'm telling you that I didn't tell you anything about me besides what happened back there," I growled.

"Mataya, you're cold and tired. It's time for you to go inside, were you'll be save and warm," he orders me. He suddenly seem like his is in a rush, as if, if he does not leave quickly he would be in trouble. Therefore, before I can reply he reaches over me and opens up my door for me. "Go," he says angrily, when do not move.

I quickly get out of his car, afraid of what he might do if I did not, and when I shut the door and step out of the way, he speeds out of my driveway, leaving me alone outside of my dark house.

I stand were I am, for many minutes, bewildered. What just happened? One minute he is acting all nice then the next he is all secretive and edgy. He had saved me from wandering around the woods, for that I was gratefully, but then started missing with my head. Was he not? Wouldn't I remember if I had told him my name and address or was the cold really just getting to my head? As much as I tried to think, nothing would pop into my head, I really have no memory of this so-called conversation that he says we had. There's so many questions unanswered, so much I would like to know, to understand.

Moreover, if he wasn't the one who had saved me from that man, than who was? It is strange how he was there, waling the path, the same time that man who had attacked me was, along with my supposed actual saver. I guess I am just somewhat lucky in a way, if you count it as lucky anyway.

"Mataya?" I hear my father cry out from the porch. I had not even heard the front door open so hearing him call out my name startled me and destroyed my train of thought. I turn around to find him wide eyed, with worry on his face. "Are you alright, honey?" he asks as he runs to my side, placing his hands on either side of my shoulders, scanning my body up and down. "Mataya, I got a phone call. I was told what happened. Mataya, are you alright?" he asks again, concern bubbling up inside him.

I look deep into his eyes for the first time. He looks more than concerned. He looks agitated, angry, frustrated, but not with me, with someone else entirely. "What did _this person_ tell you, did? And _who_ is this person?" I speak for the first time, ignoring all of his questions.

Who would know what just happened to me? It happened not even an hour ago. It could not have gotten around that fast, fist of all because I do not know anyone from around here, and second, even if that man had gotten away and was….bragging about it, there really is not much to tell. He did not actually have a chance to…to. I cannot finish the thought, I cannot.

"Mataya, I don't care that he didn't actually hurt you. I am still contacting the police and filing a report. This man will be found, Mataya that I promise you. He will not get away with it." a single tear escaped my father's eye as he pulls me in for a hug. "I love you, Mataya. I know I was not in your life for that long but you are here now and I do not want to lose you, especially like that," he explains. "Come on, let's get you inside. You must be freezing out here," he babbled on, obviously trying to get around my question.

He releases me from our hug and grabs me by my arm to pull me inside. I stand were I am, not moving. He gets confused and turns to face me again. "Mataya, what are you doing? Are you okay?" he frowns.

"Dad, who called you?" I ask in a dour tone.

"Mataya," his frown grows bigger, frustrated. "That does not matter right now. Let's just get you inside and into some clean clothes before you catch a cold," he orders. He is about to turn back around, to head inside, but I stop him again.

"Dad, I need to know," I growled, demanding to know. "Who was it?"

"Honey, I am not even really sure, okay. I think he said his name was Larry, Lu, or Laurence. He said he was the one that brought you home. He said you have been standing out here for quite some time. He was afraid for after what happened you would…" he trails off but continues on a different subject. "Come on; let's just get you inside now, okay. You're starting to turn different colors," he laughed a nervous laugh. It was obvious he did not want to bring up the word rape. I mean what father would.

Louis called. But how could he have? This is getting strange, first my name and address, and now my own phone number. I do not even know it yet myself, so how could he? By the way, my father sounds, he has no idea who Louis is either so he could not have gotten the number that way. What other solutions are there though? Does my dad know someone who knows Louis? Does Louis work with someone important, needing the knowledge of everything and everyone? None of this is making sense.

Once we are inside my father's still has me by my arm. I am getting frustrated at his gesture. I mean I know he is just trying to help because he is concerned but it is a bit much.

"Dad, it is okay. You can let go of my arm now," I force a smile to show I would be all right. "Let me just go shower then I will be right back down, okay."

"Fine, you need to come right back down though," he ordered, repeating what I had just said. Is he even listening to _everything _that is coming out of my mouth?

"I will, dad," I force a short chuckle.

Once I am in the shower, letting the hot water cascade down my body, tears start to escape my eyes. They are coming down so hard and so fast, I figured the shock was finally catching up with me. I cannot get myself to stop. They are still freely flowing as if a broken faucet as I change into my pajamas and head for the stairs. I stop on the top step when I hear my father talking on the phone, well, more like yelling.

"My daughter has not been here more than two days now and she has already been assaulted." there is a short pause letting the person on the other side of the phone line speak. When dad speaks, again there is more irritation in his voice. "Yes, I understand that bit I'm not going to take her down there right now. It is excessively late a time. I will take her down in the morning. I want that man's description taken and he found," he ordered. Another short pause. "Yes," he spoke again. "I said that I understood that but she is not really talking to me right now. I think she is in shock or something. I'm going to try to make her talk to me, first." and another short pause. "She came in with nothing but her pants, bra, and the boy who had saved her jacket on," he growled. Another pause. "Thanks, I will be down there first thin, good-bye. Then the phone was slammed down on the hook.

Leaving first think in the morning? But I start school tomorrow. I have already missed a great amount, should I really miss anymore? I mean I know going to the police station is important but could I not just go now or after school? However, as I think about it I decided I would not bring it up to Richard. I would do whatever I needed to do so they could catch that man. I stand were I am for a couple of more minutes, forcing myself to stop crying, even if it meant continuing to cry when I got back to my room. I do not want my father to be even more worked up than he already is if he saw me like this. At this point they would just explode.

"Hey, dad," I force a smile as I walk into the living room. Like ways he is sitting in his favorite recliner in the corner of the room, closest to the television.

"Hey, sweat heart. Do you feel a bit better after your shower?" he wondered.

"Yea, I guess," I reply in the most promising tone that I can manage. However, honestly, I feel like more tears are going to leak while I stand here.

"That is good," he smiled, "Well, I called the station. I'm taking you down there in the morning so you can give a description of the…man," he struggled one the last part. I can tell it is even harder for him that it is for me and he was not even there to witness it.

"Can I go to school tomorrow? I mean after we go to the police station," I ask, a bit optimistic.

"I do not think that is such a great idea, Mattie," he grimaced.

Mattie, he only shortens my name when he is timid, or agitated, or upset with me. He has a right to be, I get that but I still really want to go. It might take my mind off what happened, might help distract me.

"But dad, it might help keep me busy, keep my mind off…" I pause but proceed seconds later, knowing I had to spit it out. "Well, you know," I finish off.

"I don't know," he says again, but this time with more stamina.

"Will you at least think about it?" I ask as I walk over and stand in front of him, thrusting out my bottom lip and fluttering my eyes, giving him my puppy dogface.

"I'll have to think about it," he frowns, though his voice is promising.

"Thanks, dad," I smiled.

"Now, come on. Let's go eat," he proposed as he returned the smile and stood up.

We sit at eh kitchen table in salience; I do not think either of us wants to bring up the unwanted subject. It is already hard enough for me, always seeing his face in my head and images of him destroying me. However, I hold it all in, as hard as it is I do it anyway. If I have to cry, again I will wait until I am alone and in my room, underneath my covers.

I am chewing on my last piece of ravioli when he finally speaks.

"Sweetie, do you want to talk about it? You don't have to but it might help," he assures me. "I can see that you're trying not to cry."

"Is it that noticeable?" I frowned.

"Kind of."

I continue to chewing on my food, thinking if I actually want to talk about it or not. Either way I would have to bring it up again tomorrow. Moreover, I guess dad does have the right to know exactly what happened before the cops do. He does not deserve to be left in the dark.

"There's not," I gulped. "Much to say." I reply as I place my fork down on my now empty plate. "I was walking along the path, in the woods, when I started hearing there…these noises. I got freaked out and started to run back from which I came." I pause, not wanting to bring up the next part. I just stare down at my empty plate and frown.

"That's when the man showed up?" he demanded.

Silence.

"Mataya?" he pleaded, his eyebrows knitting together and his forehead wrinkled.

Silence.

"Please, Mataya," he slumped.

"Yes," I finally answered. "He…he tried to…" I burst out into tears as the memory, again. Comes swimming back into my head. I told myself I was not going to do this, I was not going to cry, but I just cannot hold it in any longer. If I did, I felt like I would spontaneously combust.

As I sit here and sob Richard gets up from his chair, puts his arms around my neck, and hugs me awkwardly. We stay like this for a couple of minutes, in silence, until Richard finally speaks.

"It will be alright, Mataya, I promise," he smiles with confidence.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**I cannot stop seeing his face**

I barley sleep a wink over the course night; I was just too shaken up to shut my eyes or even attempt to sleep with the lights off. When I did eventually shut my eyes, for the short amount of time that it was, all's I would see was that man's face. I would end up back in the woods and he was holding me down, again. He would have that same smirk highlighting across his face as he ripped my clothes off and threw them to the side. I never tried to get away or endeavor to scream, as much as I wanted to, I just could not and I do not know why. But no matter how many times I would see this, right before he had a chance to essentially hurt me, I would wake up screaming with sweet dripping freely from every inch of my body.

With each time that it happened, I would wake up to it feeling so real. The way he touched me, I could still feel the tips of his fingers cuirassing up and down my arms when I awaken, it would take many seconds for the feeling to fade. However, the image of him always stays in my head; I think it will always haunt me.

That happened three times over the course night, each time Richard had come running into my bedroom to see if I was all right and to appease me. Once I had my breathing back to normal and my heart rate slowed back down to its regular pace he would leave me to try to sleep again. Despite the fact that, we both knew that it would not happen in the slightest.

I do not think he slept much himself given the fact that by the time breakfast rolled around he had bags under his eyes as well as I did. He looked like he was going to fall over at any second and let sleep take over him, and I do not blame him, I feel the same way. In spite of this, I feel as if it is my fault he is now this way. If I had not set my mother's house one fire I would not be here right now and he would not have to worry about me like this. He would not have to worry about me at all.

"You should hurry up, Mataya. We'll be leaving here in about fifteen minutes," Richard reminds me, pulling me out of my abstraction.

"I just have to brush my teeth," I assure him as I throw my bowl into the dishwasher and put my milk and cereal away.

"Alright, I'll just be waiting in the car for you, then," he smiles weakly as he heads for the front door to put his loafers on.

"Okay," I beam back as I head up the stairs, towards the lavatory.

As soon as I am finished getting ready and am in the car we take off. I have no idea how long it will take to get there but I hope it will not be that far away, again, I hope.

"You know what you have to do once we step inside, right?" Richard speculated, speaking for the first time as we park the car in the lot, across from the police station.

I am somewhat happy; it only took twenty-six minutes to get here.

"Yes, dad," is all I respond with.

I have watched many law enforcement shows. I know what to expect from the officers. At least I think I do. They ask questions, you answer them, they have someone draw out the way you describe the man's face, and then they try to catch the man. I can do all that. I can play my part in this assignment, can I not? I do not see any reason why I would not be able to help; unless the man who had attacked me shows up, out of nowhere, and takes me with ought anyone noticing. However, that is a very hard picture to paint seeing how there are police officer's everywhere so I should be fine.

Suddenly, I remember what I wanted to ask Richard to think about last night. Will he let me go to school after this is all over if I ask him about it again? Is he one of those parents that get aggravated when you ask them a question more than once and end up saying no just because they can? I have no idea so I just decide to chance it and ask him anyway.

"Hey, dad?" I speak as I disengage my seatbelt.

"Yes, honey?" he contortioned. By the expression on his face, I think he is expecting something bad. Something about what had happened last night.

I chuckle softly to myself. "Have you decided yet if I can go to school after this or not?" a smile enlarges across my face as I watch him loosen up a bit.

"Why not," he grins in return. "You seem really enthusiastic to so I can't say no to that now can I? And maybe you're right; it could help keep your mind occupied on loads of other subject matters."

"Thanks, Dad."

I squeeze his side tightly as we walk across the street and into the police station. As soon as we are inside, I notice that the place is not very considerable in size. We had walked into a room that holds one small and much disorganized desk. Two officers are on either side of it, filling out some sort of paperwork. There is a corkboard behind them with many faces nailed to it, for missing children; witch rather freaks me out a bit, so I concentrate on something other than that, like the awards hanging on the left wall. There is about five of them for something about a large fire that had take place a couple of years back. By the looks of it, many people were involved.

"Hey, Richard," the officer to my left smiles brightly. "I heard what happened, man," he frowns.

This man is tall, almost scary looking if you must, in his black uniform and with his mocha colored skin, large muscles, tattoo's all over his body, many of snakes, tarantula's, chains, and more; brown eyes, and shaved head with a tattoo on the back showing a picture of a gun.

"Officer Kent," Richard smiles back as he shakes his hands once, then, quickly drops it back down to his side.

"Hey, I've told you to call me Emilio," he orders in an almost angry but playful tone.

"Right, sorry," Richard snorts.

"So, how've you been? I mean besides the obvious," Emilio grimaced.

"All right, I guess. My daughters come to live with me for a while. Until her mother gets settled in back at home, anyway," he looks down at me and places both his hands on either side of my shoulders, from behind, smiling.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry it came out to a bad start," Emilio frowns.

"Yea, but we're all right though and that's all that matters."

"That is true," he nods his head.

Emilio looks down at me for the first time, acting as if he just became aware of me standing here, sympathy showing in his eyes. "Are you ready?" he wondered.

""I guess," I reply as I slowly follow him into an even smaller room.

All's there is, in this to small of a room, is a table with four chairs surrounding it. There is just enough room for me to pull out the chair and take my seat. I did not notice until after I had sat down that my father had not been fallowing me. He must have been told to wait outside for me.

Emilio slams the door shut behind him and takes a seat across from me with a large smile growing across his face. I feel like I should be running away from him. He seems even scarier than the man I had run into last night with ought my dad sitting in here with me. I do not really feel comfortable talking with him either. However, I know that I must if I want to get this done and over with.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

**His name is what**

I have answered all the questions Officer Emilio had asked me. What the man did, where I was when it happened, what time it might have been, how far he got with me before the anonymous person saved me, how long I might have been wondering the woods after the incident, and information on Louis.

They want to question him as well. Find out how much of what happened he actually witnessed and why he seemed to be there around the same time of the assault. When the officer asked me if he could have been the one who saved me from the man as well as in the woods, it got me thinking, was he? Last night he had said that he was not, but it made me wonder if he was laying to me, and why he would be doing just that in the first place. Does he not want to be the hero?

I clarified how I only knew his first name and what kind of car he drove. I was shaken up to much last night to catch his license plate number. However, he seemed to know many things about me and me knowing nothing about him, though I did not tell him exactly that, I still hoped they do not find him. I do not want to get him into any sort of trouble. He had saved me last night and that is it. I was extremely grateful to him for that but here is no need for him to get involved, not in this.

Then it was time to see the sketch artist.

"Can you tell me, with as much detail as you can what the man might have looked like to you?" Paula Doux asks as she takes a seat next to me and places a sketchpad on her lap.

This woman is extremely tall. She has long curly brown hair and hazel eyes. When she first walked into the room, I was shocked. She has a scar on the left side of her face that runs from her eyebrow down to the side of her lip. She is wearing her hair down, reaching past her butt, wearing along sleeved pink t-shirt and jeans.

"He…um…his hair is black, his eyes are really dark; almost black like his hair, and his very large in size, very muscular." I start to explain as I sit in my seat. Seeing him in my head again frustrates me. I don't want to picture him anymore.

"How long is his hair exactly?" he wondered.

"Oh, um…very short, like a mushroom cut," I reply with a shutter.

"Do you think you can estimate his height for me?" she speculated.

"Hmmm…" I slouch in my chair as I try to remember. The more I try to focus the ore it hurts but I continue, knowing that it would be over soon. "Like 5' 6" or 5' 8"."

I bring my knees up to my chest, wrap my arms around my legs, and rest my check on my left knee, still facing Paula.

"And the shape of his face, was it more square, round, or oval?" she asks as she continues to scribble lines on the paper in front of her.

"Oval," I assure her.

"How's this?" she inquired as she lifts the picture up so I can take a look at it.

All the man's features are exact. I quiver in my seat as I stare at the image in front of me. It feels like his is staring back at me so I quickly look away. This is the first time I have seen his face, not in my head, since last night when I saw him in person.

"The…that's him," I whisper.

"Okay, thank you," she smiles innocently as she stands up. "One of the officers will be right in." she assures me as she steps out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

I stare out, into space while I wait. However, it is only seconds that pass before I suddenly hear my father screaming on the other side of this wall, "Aaron? Aaron did this to my daughter. I am going to kill that son of a bitch."

"Richard, calm down. This is good. We know who the suspect is now," I hear officer Emilio say. "All's we have to do now if find him. And please, Richard, let us do our job. Don't go out looking for him when you leave, we will take care of it ourselves. Please, don't do anything stupid."

Aaron is the man's name? Moreover, my father knows him? Every second that passes keeps getting weirder. First Louis knows everything about me but my dad doesn't know anything about him. The second, my father knows the one who attacked me and wants to go hunting for him himself. What's going too happened next?

Minutes pass, it is silent and irritating but finally an officer, whom I don't know his name walks in. he takes the seat nearest to me; the one Paula ha occupied earlier and smiles in my direction, with ought actually talking or making any sort of eye contact. I quickly look over at his badge to catch his name. Across it reads Officer Ben Forman.

As I take a closer look at the officer, I realize that this man is not as scary looking as Emilio. His hair is brown and slicked back. His muscles are not as large as Emilio's but there still big.

It stays silent as we sit here for many minutes. However, eventually he looks down at my face and speaks, "Don't worry, kid. We will find him."

I just stay staring down at the floor while I wait for my father to come back and get me.

"Honey, are you ready to go?" Richard asks when he finally enters the room, I don't even know how long after, it felt like forever.

I look up and find him leaning up against the doorframe. He has a frown painted across his face.

"Yes," I reply weakly.

Mechanically, I stand up and walk in his direction. When I'm finally by his side, he wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads us out to his car.

"Do you still want to go to school?" he asks, awkwardly, when we're finally seated in his car.

"Yes," I reply, though, my voice brakes, drat.

"Are you sure? I can see that you're having second thoughts about it now," he frowns but his tone stays serious. "If what happened in there was too much for you I can just take you home."

"No dad, really, I'm okay." I make my voice come out stronger this time so it wouldn't crack again, wanting to sound more convincing.

"All right," he agreed. "I'll take you to school but you contact me any time you feel the need to come home," he insists.

"I will dad," I force a smile. "I promise."

"You know, Mataya. I'm sorry it started out like this," a single tear falls from his eye. Wow, I never thought I would see the day that my father cried. It's a little weird to tell you the truth.

"Dad, it wasn't your fault," I assure him.

"But it is," he disagreed with me, his voice staying strong. "If I hadn't let you go walk in the woods by yourself this wouldn't have happened."

"Neither of us knew that what happened was going to occur at the time, dad. Please, don't blame yourself," I glower.

The rest of the car ride is quiet as he drives me towards the school. Occasionally he'd peek in my direction from the corner of his eyes, probably to check if I'm still holding myself together. I sigh, he worries too much. However, I guess that it is a good thing. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have worried parents who didn't care about what I did or where I was.

As we get off the high way, a large 'Forest Hills High School' sign catches my eyes. We turn into the large parking lot then and three large brick buildings appear in front of us. I cannot believe how big this school is considering the population around, Franklin county is only seven hundred and forty-five, well -forty-six- now, but there still can't be that many students here.

However, as we pull in closer I catch sight of not just high school students but middle scholars as well. They must be switching classes because students are everywhere.

"This isn't just a high school?" I ask as we pull up to the building that's labeled 'one' on the side.

"Nope, there are only two different schools down closer by here. This one which is for seventh though twelfth then the 'Forest Hills school' downs the street that holds the kindergarten through sixth grade," he explains. "There are not many people around here these days. People like," he gulps and frowns. "Aaron, are the reason why."

"Oh," is all I can manage to slip out of my chest.

"Well, get going, did," he laughs when I don't move.

"Oh, yeah," I laugh with him as I open the door and jump out.

"I love you, kid," he breaths softly then drives off as soon as I shut the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter six**

**His name is what**

I have answered all the questions Officer Emilio had asked me. What the man did, where I was when it happened, what time it might have been, how far he got with me before the anonymous person saved me, how long I might have been wondering the woods after the incident, and information on Louis.

They want to question him as well. Find out how much of what happened he actually witnessed and why he seemed to be there around the same time of the assault. When the officer asked me if he could have been the one who saved me from the man as well as in the woods, it got me thinking, was he? Last night he had said that he was not, but it made me wonder if he was laying to me, and why he would be doing just that in the first place. Does he not want to be the hero?

I clarified how I only knew his first name and what kind of car he drove. I was shaken up to much last night to catch his license plate number. However, he seemed to know many things about me and me knowing nothing about him, though I did not tell him exactly that, I still hoped they do not find him. I do not want to get him into any sort of trouble. He had saved me last night and that is it. I was extremely grateful to him for that but here is no need for him to get involved, not in this.

Then it was time to see the sketch artist.

"Can you tell me, with as much detail as you can what the man might have looked like to you?" Paula Doux asks as she takes a seat next to me and places a sketchpad on her lap.

This woman is extremely tall. She has long curly brown hair and hazel eyes. When she first walked into the room, I was shocked. She has a scar on the left side of her face that runs from her eyebrow down to the side of her lip. She is wearing her hair down, reaching past her butt, wearing along sleeved pink t-shirt and jeans.

"He…um…his hair is black, his eyes are really dark; almost black like his hair, and his very large in size, very muscular." I start to explain as I sit in my seat. Seeing him in my head again frustrates me. I don't want to picture him anymore.

"How long is his hair exactly?" he wondered.

"Oh, um…very short, like a mushroom cut," I reply with a shutter.

"Do you think you can estimate his height for me?" she speculated.

"Hmmm…" I slouch in my chair as I try to remember. The more I try to focus the ore it hurts but I continue, knowing that it would be over soon. "Like 5' 6" or 5' 8"."

I bring my knees up to my chest, wrap my arms around my legs, and rest my check on my left knee, still facing Paula.

"And the shape of his face, was it more square, round, or oval?" she asks as she continues to scribble lines on the paper in front of her.

"Oval," I assure her.

"How's this?" she inquired as she lifts the picture up so I can take a look at it.

All the man's features are exact. I quiver in my seat as I stare at the image in front of me. It feels like his is staring back at me so I quickly look away. This is the first time I have seen his face, not in my head, since last night when I saw him in person.

"The…that's him," I whisper.

"Okay, thank you," she smiles innocently as she stands up. "One of the officers will be right in." she assures me as she steps out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

I stare out, into space while I wait. However, it is only seconds that pass before I suddenly hear my father screaming on the other side of this wall, "Aaron? Aaron did this to my daughter. I am going to kill that son of a bitch."

"Richard, calm down. This is good. We know who the suspect is now," I hear officer Emilio say. "All's we have to do now if find him. And please, Richard, let us do our job. Don't go out looking for him when you leave, we will take care of it ourselves. Please, don't do anything stupid."

Aaron is the man's name? Moreover, my father knows him? Every second that passes keeps getting weirder. First Louis knows everything about me but my dad doesn't know anything about him. The second, my father knows the one who attacked me and wants to go hunting for him himself. What's going too happened next?

Minutes pass, it is silent and irritating but finally an officer, whom I don't know his name walks in. he takes the seat nearest to me; the one Paula ha occupied earlier and smiles in my direction, with ought actually talking or making any sort of eye contact. I quickly look over at his badge to catch his name. Across it reads Officer Ben Forman.

As I take a closer look at the officer, I realize that this man is not as scary looking as Emilio. His hair is brown and slicked back. His muscles are not as large as Emilio's but there still big.

It stays silent as we sit here for many minutes. However, eventually he looks down at my face and speaks, "Don't worry, kid. We will find him."

I just stay staring down at the floor while I wait for my father to come back and get me.

"Honey, are you ready to go?" Richard asks when he finally enters the room, I don't even know how long after, it felt like forever.

I look up and find him leaning up against the doorframe. He has a frown painted across his face.

"Yes," I reply weakly.

Mechanically, I stand up and walk in his direction. When I'm finally by his side, he wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads us out to his car.

"Do you still want to go to school?" he asks, awkwardly, when we're finally seated in his car.

"Yes," I reply, though, my voice brakes, drat.

"Are you sure? I can see that you're having second thoughts about it now," he frowns but his tone stays serious. "If what happened in there was too much for you I can just take you home."

"No dad, really, I'm okay." I make my voice come out stronger this time so it wouldn't crack again, wanting to sound more convincing.

"All right," he agreed. "I'll take you to school but you contact me any time you feel the need to come home," he insists.

"I will dad," I force a smile. "I promise."

"You know, Mataya. I'm sorry it started out like this," a single tear falls from his eye. Wow, I never thought I would see the day that my father cried. It's a little weird to tell you the truth.

"Dad, it wasn't your fault," I assure him.

"But it is," he disagreed with me, his voice staying strong. "If I hadn't let you go walk in the woods by yourself this wouldn't have happened."

"Neither of us knew that what happened was going to occur at the time, dad. Please, don't blame yourself," I glower.

The rest of the car ride is quiet as he drives me towards the school. Occasionally he'd peek in my direction from the corner of his eyes, probably to check if I'm still holding myself together. I sigh, he worries too much. However, I guess that it is a good thing. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have worried parents who didn't care about what I did or where I was.

As we get off the high way, a large 'Forest Hills High School' sign catches my eyes. We turn into the large parking lot then and three large brick buildings appear in front of us. I cannot believe how big this school is considering the population around, Franklin county is only seven hundred and forty-five, well -forty-six- now, but there still can't be that many students here.

However, as we pull in closer I catch sight of not just high school students but middle scholars as well. They must be switching classes because students are everywhere.

"This isn't just a high school?" I ask as we pull up to the building that's labeled 'one' on the side.

"Nope, there are only two different schools down closer by here. This one which is for seventh though twelfth then the 'Forest Hills school' downs the street that holds the kindergarten through sixth grade," he explains. "There are not many people around here these days. People like," he gulps and frowns. "Aaron, are the reason why."

"Oh," is all I can manage to slip out of my chest.

"Well, get going, did," he laughs when I don't move.

"Oh, yeah," I laugh with him as I open the door and jump out.

"I love you, kid," he breaths softly then drives off as soon as I shut the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter seven**

**He's back?**

When he is out of sight I turn and face the school building in front of me. I follow the walkway up and towards the large glass doors to get inside. Once I'm inside I find myself standing near another set of, smaller, glass doors. As I get closer I realize the doors are labeled 'office', so I step though, hoping to find some help.

Inside, the office is small, barley big enough for the three folding chairs in the corner and the desk on the other side were the secretary is seated. The rugs an ugly color green and the walls yellow, obviously the schools colors. A large clock hangs above the three chairs, ticking loudly; awards are placed on either side of it.

I stand by eh desk waiting for the red headed secretary to finish whatever she is doing.

"Can I help you?" she asks as she finally looks up/

"Yes, um, my name is Mataya Nata," I notified her. Her face lights up quickly.

"Oh, yes," she smiles as she opens one of the desk draws and starts skimming though a load of documenters, until she comes across mine. She pulls out two pieces of paper, handing them to me one at a time. "This one is your schedule," she assures me, handing me the first sheet. "And this one is a map of the school. You're going to need it," she laughs once.

"Thank you," I return the smile and head back out the doors I came though.

Kids are still heading towards their classroom as I step into the hall so I know I won't be walking in and interrupting a class, having all eyes on me. I peak at my schedule then at the watch around my wrist. Second period will be starting in about five minutes, I look back at my schedule and realize my second period class is Art, building three, first floor.

I hurry back outside and walk along the sidewalk, leading to the back building. I'm almost thought the doors when I feel someone tap my right shoulder. I turn around and find a tall curly haired blond standing in front of me. A large smile is painted across her face, her hair just reaches past her shoulders, brown eyes, and lightly tan skinned.

"Hello," she smiles. "I couldn't help but notice that you're new around here so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Alyssa Flink," in sticks out her right hand as she greets me.

"Hey, I'm Mataya Nata," I reply while shaking her hand once.

"Are you heading towards Art class?" she enquires as she starts past me.

"Um, yea actually, I am," I smile sand start to follow after her, glad I have someone who can lead the way instead of getting lost.

I know I have the map I can follow but with my luck I'd probably read it upside down or backwards.

"Cool," she says in a thrilled tone.

Once we're in the classroom Alyssa insists that I sit next to her, so we end up in the second row back, from the front. The tables are set around a large table that holds a wooden chair, set on top of it.

"All right class," the teacher, Mr. Whipple, silences everyone. "Today we start on a whole new project, someone has already volunteered to be the subject for this week so once Louis is set and ready you can get started," he smiles. "And remember…"

Whatever he says after that goes from one ear right out the other. Did he really just say the name Louis? It can be a coincidence, right? There can be more than one kin named Louis in this small town of seven hundred and forty-six- people, can't there? There has to be.

My questions are quickly answered when the boy named Louis walks into the classroom. Right away I can tell it's him, the boy that had found and saved me from the woods. Same dark black, messy hair; pale white skin, built body, glow to his squared face, but the eyes, last time I saw him, his eyes were a brownish purple not now, now they hold a tint of yellow, replacing the purple; the brownish color still shaded around the edges of his eyes.

But it is still him, different eye color or not, it's definitely still him that I am sure of.

I gasp at what I see, not able to hold it in. he quickly snaps his head over in my direction, picking out my face immediately. His eyes change color then, to a lighter orange, how do his eyes do that is it the lighting reflecting off his eyes? No, it can't be. That doesn't make any sense on how it would chance the coloring itself. His once calm face grows with frustration, like he's upset to have come across me again.

"Mataya?" someone near me, Alyssa asks, pulling me out of my tar4ain of though. "Are you all right?" she frowns.

"Oh," I quickly snap back into reality. "Yea, I'm fine," I assure her.

I grab the sketch pad laid out in front of me and open it up to the first page. When I look up again, Louis has taken his shirt off and is now sitting on the chairs placed on the table, my jaw drops at the sight in front of me. This is the second time I've seen him like this but the first time I'm actually taking the time to look him over. His skin looks so smooth and pale, almost as if a statue made out of stone as he sits there, very still, and stars straight ahead, above all of our head.

I gasp again but this time he doesn't look in my direction, he doesn't even move a muscle though out the rest of the class. It doesn't even look like he as much as breaths.

"Wow, you're a really great artist," Alyssa comments as we start packing up our things.

"Thanks, I've had a lot of free time on my hands. I enjoy drawing, it's a great pass time," I laugh.

And it is true. I've always enjoyed drawing. It helped keep me busy when I was stuck in the house alone, with no other siblings to play with. I still sometimes wish I had a younger sibling to talk to, or more like torture.

"I've never been able to draw all that well," she admits as she points towards her sketch pad.

She's right on that fact, her picture looks horrible. To put it nicely, it almost looks like a six year olds work when their trying to stay in between the lines of a coloring book page.

When I look up again, hoping to catch up the Louis, he's no were in sight. Darn.

"Hey," I look back up at Alyssa. "That kid, Louis. Do you know anything about him?"

"Not really," He moved here not long before you did," she looks at me and frowns. "I've tried talking to him a couple of times but he ends up walking away before I even get a chance to say hello," she scowls. "He does it to everyone." she stops, thinking a moment, but continues seconds later. "Well, except for his brother and sister, but their grade higher than him. The only time he gets to see them is at lunch, it seems like they only talk to each other, though."

"Wait, he had older siblings?" I wince.

I hope he's not the sharing type of sibling. If he told them what he came across the other day and they recognize me I think I'd die. It probably wouldn't be long before the whole school found out what happened to me. Then everyone would watch me with wide eyes.

"Yea, well, one of them anyway. Word around is that their brother was adopted, she laughs but then becomes more serious. "I guess Andrew's parents died in a fire or something."

"Oh, that's sad," I frown.

"Yea, it is," she agreed. "So, what class do you have next?" she seems desperate to change the subject.

"Hmmm..." I pull out my schedule and skim though it. "Looks like I have history next."

"Oh, that sucks. I had that first period," she laughs. "Good luck."

Then she is gone, like the rest of the classroom.

The rest of the morning goes by smoothly. In my third period history class I met this boy named Austin Sleil. He's nice, has short spiky blond hair, hazel eyes, and is very tall, standing at least a good foot over me. But he seems a little too over the top. He sat next to me during class and insisted in walking with me to the cafeteria.

"So, were did you move here from?" he asks, standing just a little too close to my right side.

"Florida," I reply.

"Really?" his eyebrows pull together, shocked. "IT must be weird moving from a place that never snows to a place that usually gets the most."

"Yea, it's different," I agreed.

"How do you like it here so far?" he wondered.

"It will take some getting used to," I reply, honest.

Once we're at the cafeteria and have our lunch trays Austin leads me to a table at the far back of the large room, near some open windows. There are other people already sitting around it. I recognize one of the girls right away, Alyssa. She smiles at me, excitedly, as soon as I take the seat across from her. Austin quickly claims the seat to my right.

Next to Alyssa sits a boy with short brown hair and blue eyes. Even with him sitting down I can tell he's extremely tall, a good couple of inches over Alyssa, whose tall herself. What is everyone in this town tall?

It's also obvious that there together, holding each other's hands in all.

Next to him, to my left, sits another girl with short brown wavy hair and brown eyes. She's average in height; -_cool someone I can actually talk to with ought to have to strain my neck_-, and has chocolate colored skin.

"Guys, this is Taya," he looks at me then and laughs hysterically. My jaw drops; he's already given me a nickname? How dare him. "Ha, Mataya, this is Alyssa and her," he flinches. "Boyfriend, Travis."

"We've met," Alyssa assures Austin, with a large grin starched across her face.

"And that's Hanna," he continues, pointing at the shorter girl sitting next to me, ignoring Alyssa's comment.

I obviously don't know anything about his group of friend but I can definitely tell that Austin doesn't like Travis all that much. He seems too much of a man who's with flirting with me and apparently liking Alyssa already.

Both Travis and Hannah say, "Hello," in unison.

"Hey," I smile back.

"So, why did you move here anyway?" Austin continues our earlier conversation, acting line no one else was here but us two.

"I was forced to," I reply not really wanting to mention the fact that it was because I had burnt down the kitchen.

"Oh, why, did you do something mischievous?" Travis asks, suddenly interested in my story.

"Kind of, I guess," I shrugged.

"Well, what did you do?" Hanna asks, sounding impatient.

I really don't want to tell them the real reason why I was here. They would just laugh and probably hold it against me for quite awhile. I know that if one of them told me the same thing I'd laugh at them as well. But I trapped myself in the corner with no way around it so I answer Hannah's question anyway, considering I'm not a very good liar.

"I started a fire in the kitchen while trying to cook dinner."

And just like I predicted the four of them start laughing hysterically in their seats.

"Can't cook that well, ah," Austin says though snorts. It wasn't a question; it was more of a taunting remark.

I look down, embarrassed, but look back up again seconds later when I hear someone scowl close by. When I look behind me, in the direction I heard the noise, I find Louis walking past me. I watch as he takes a seat next to two other people three tables down.

I can't believe my eyes. They look exactly like him, not in the identical sense but with the same pale skin, black hair, statue like features, and glow to their faces.

The boy that's seated next to Louis, I'm guessing he's Andrew; from what Alyssa had said earlier, has shaggy black spiky hair and his chin rounds off perfectly to his face. He's not as built as Louis, muscle wise, but he's still fairly large.

The girl next to Andrew, her hair is long, curly and also black. She is slouched into Andrew's arms like she's tired. She's thin and looks very breakable but average in height. Her chin points off unlike the others but still fits her perfect face. She's the type of girl who others wished they could look like but could never pull it off no matter how much the make-up.

"Hey, what's the girl's name? Louis's sister?" I ask as I turn back around, the question meant for anyone to answer, oblivious to whatever conversation the four of them were sharing.

"Who?" Hanna Pauses. "Yolanda Night?" she frowns. "Why?"

From the tone in her voice I can tell she hats the subject of conversation I brought up. Seems lie not many people like the _night_ family.

"Just wondering?" I quickly assure her.

"I still can't believe you started a fire in your own house and while trying to cook dinner, none the less," Austin continues to laugh. "How bad did it get?"

"Bad," I admit while looking behind me again.

I still can't get over how the three of them look. Together they could be goddesses. Gouges in charge of a beauty contest wouldn't be able to pick between the three of them.

As I continue to stare I realize their sitting there with no food in front of them. Do they not eat lunch at school? Or did they just forget to bring money with them today? But I don't see how all three of them would do that on the same day.

The three of them look at me then, moving their heads at the same exact time, staring me down like I'm some type of animal that they are getting ready to hunt down. I turn around then. But still feel them burning a hole in the back of my head.

Thankfully the bell rings seconds later, making an eerie buzzing sound. I pick up my tray and brig it over to the trash, throwing away the scraps and placing it with the other trays. When I look at my schedule, again, I realize my next class is English, building one so I start heading towards the doors that lead to the outside.

As soon as I step through the doors I get covered in snow, laughter ten fills the air. I whip the snow off of my shoulders and out of my hair then look for who it was I had to blame, and of course it's Austin. Why did I even bother to ask?

He continues to laugh.

"Great, picking on the new girl now, hmmm," I say sarcastically.

"Of course," he chuckles. "So what class do you have next?"

"English," I wince. I hope he doesn't have the same class as me.

I think I've had enough of him for one day. I relax when he starts to frown, pushing his lower lip out and pouting like a child not getting is way.

"Darn, I'm heading towards Math. I guess I'll see you later than," he wines as heads in the other direction.

Once I reach the English classroom and walk though they do a smile stretches across my face. There's only one seat left and the person next to it is Louis. I don't even bother to see if anyone else is in this class that I know I just walk past the teacher, keeping my eyes on him, and stop as soon as I reach the table. He looks up at me and shoots an upset glance at me.

Why does he keep doing that? Does he have a problem with me now? Does he regret finding and saving me? Does he think he could help me and hope to never see me again? What is his deal?

I take a seat next to him, still starting in his direction. He pushes his seat as far away from me as possible, almost off of the table. I pull my eyebrows together in confusion. Is he made at me because I don't remember having the introduction conversation with him or me telling him where I lived?

"I never really did say thank you, did I?" I say awkwardly.

"No" he replies expressionless, still not staring in my direction, just straight ahead, up at the front of the class.

Before anything else can be said the teacher, Mrs. Luring, stands up from her chair and smiles. "Good after noun, class," she greeted. "Today I want you to partner up with the person sitting next to you and list the differences and equal qualities between Romeo and Juliet."

As the teacher speaks, out of the corner of my eye I see Louis grimace angrily. Really, what is his problem? I demand to know. I turn my head to face him and frown.

"What is your problem?" I whisper only loud enough so he can hear me.

He gives out frustrated chuckle and finally runs and looks at me. "You have no idea," he reassures me.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I growl.

He starts to write things down on a lined piece of paper. "The two families live totally different life styles. That's a difference," he explains as he writes a point down.

He ignores my question, acting as if he hadn't heard me even though I know for a fact that he most certainly did.

"Why don't you like me?" I say a bit louder though it's still low enough to where no one else can hear me.

He continues to ignore me and continues on with the project, "They both die at the end. That's a quality."

"Stop it," I snapped.

Suddenly the whole class turns and stares at me.

"Mataya, is there a problem?" The teacher wondered aloud.

"No, sorry," I apologize with embarrassment.

I lay my forehead down on the desk and take a deep breath in.


End file.
